Distorted Reflection
by Kryptik1
Summary: Time and Space are fragile things. Link knows plenty of the former's fragility. But how will he deal with the latter's as he, Zelda, and Malon not only have to deal with being drawn into a world not their own, but the escape of their worst nightmare?


Time and space...both seem so static, so uniform, never changing. While life and the universe meld and spin to the whims of these two forces, they themselves seem to be as they are. A second is a second, no matter where you life, and an inch is an inch, even if you call it by another name. And yet…they are both more fragile than anyone can imagine. Science tells us that no two points can share the same space and time simultaneously. It's a sheer impossibility by the ideas of physics.

That doesn't keep us from believing the other possibility. The possibility that there are other worlds out there. Other worlds like ours, existing parallel to our own, similar in many ways, and yet impossibly different. Other worlds where one change to history and events made that reality take a whole different tangent.

Time...and space...two things that man has yet to harness truly. They only exist in their spheres of influence...in this world.

But what of the one who existed between times. Whose ability to exist between times was not only useful, but a necessity to save his own reality from he who would buckle it under a stone heel.

What of the Hero of Time?

* * *

**The Legend of Zelda:**

**Distorted Reflections**

**Chapter 1**: _Darkness Before Dawn_

By Kryptik

* * *

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda and all characters originating from within are property of Nintendo, LTD. All original characters and inspired characters are of my own creation.

* * *

The Hero of Time. Few in Hyrule know of this title nor recognize he who carries it. This is no accident. After Ganondorf Dragmire, or Ganon as he would come to be called in future histories of Hyrule, was banished into the Sacred Realm by the 7 Sages and the Hero of Time himself, there was no need for the twisted future he had created with his power granted by the corrupted Triforce. For his efforts and his troubles, he was rewarded something he was never allowed: his childhood. To live the 7 years he had lost sleeping in the world hidden by the Temple of Time. To be what he always wanted to be: a normal kid, with normal friends, unburdened by the truth of his heritage or his lack of any symbols of coming-of-age.

Since Ganon's defeat, there was no Hero of Time, for he wasn't needed anymore. He was simply a boy, named Link. A boy who for the past 5 years has lived in general peace in the world he saved, the world of Hyrule...

"OW! GET AWAY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO KICK THAT ROCK AT YOU!"

...a boy who was currently being chased by an angry family of Cuccos.

"Come on, I'm late, I don't need this!" the boy known as Link whined, trying to run to some sort of shelter and shuck the enraged fowls pecking at anything they can reach. Despite the bundle of sturdy Deku sticks on his back, and the plain sword at his side, he didn't try and beat them off. After all, anyone who knows about Cuccos knows hitting them only makes them angrier and attracts more of them. Instead, he made a beeline for a shack. "Finally!" Rushing for the door, he quickly shoved it open and slammed it shut behind him with his body. "Whew….this is getting old." This obviously wasn't the first time he had to outrun a swarm of Cuccos...nor was it the first time he's used this shack for shelter, either. Slowly ambling over to a small table, he bent down and let his hand search along the underside of it. Smiling, he pulled out a small vial of red liquid, the snap of shallow tacks and slackening leather following. "I knew I hid one of these in here," he said, quickly uncorking it and draining the potion down his throat.

Link didn't wait to see the easily visible healing effects of his stashed potion, however. Instead, he poked his head out from the door, searching the fields for any sign of the fowls that had attacked him barely a few minutes ago. "...thank Din, they're gone." Shaking his head, he slowly slips out of the shack door, staring into the sky. "I hope Malon doesn't get mad at me."

* * *

Waiting for Link at Lon Lon Ranch was a young girl, close to the boy's own age, her blue-trimmed white sundress swaying in the wind, as well as her yellow scarf. Despite her growing beauty, orange-red hair shimmering like silk in the morning sun, her attractive features were offset by an angry puff of her cheeks, brow knitted and furrowed as she watched the gate from the horse pen. "He's late," she muttered, shaking her head as she spun around on her heels. Walking closer to the penned horses, she reached out for a gentle one, light brown with a dark brown snout and a blonde mane. "You'd think he'd learn not to be so late after all this time, Epona." As if she comprehended, the horse whinnies, shaking her head gently before bowing it low for the farm girl.

"Bah. Kid's always been a deadbeat, always will be," piped in a bitter, gruff voice behind the redheaded girl, belonging to a disgruntled looking man with beady eyes, a bushy mustache, and a pair of white overalls over a green, ratty shirt. "Why you hang around him, I'll never know. He's probably as much of a deadbeat as that lazy bum of a father you have?"

"Hrmph. If you hate working for dad so much, Ingo, why don't you leave? Oh, that's right, dad's the only one who was willing to give you a chance," the girl quickly retorted, folding her arms over her chest, causing the man apparently known as Ingo to twitch a bit, bushy mustache twisting with the rest of his face.

"Bah! Someday...someday, Malon, someone will recognize my hard work, and then…then you and that deadbeat Talon will work for me instead!" Ingo said angrily, pointing his pitchfork at the girl before retreating to the barn with a grumble. Malon simply rolled her eyes.

"Like you've been saying for the past 5 years?" she said behind his back with a casual dismissive tone. With a look back to Epona, she reached over and gently brushed the horse's mane, singing a gentle tune, one that seemed to place the horse instantly at ease. To her surprise, not a few minutes after she started singing, another melody wafted through the air, harmonizing with her voice. Her eyes widened, but her voice didn't stumble even as she turned around to meet a familiar pair of blue eyes behind blond bangs hanging from a floppy green traveling cap. Barely a second passed after the end of the tune before Malon leapt at the tardy Link, wrapping her arms around the traveler.

"Good to see you too," he said with a slightly humored tone, which earned him a quick jab in the side. Not a jab in the sense of a quick poke, but an honest-to-goodness punch in his side.

"Where were you? I thought you said you were going to be here right after noon?" Malon quickly shouted, her voice reaching a near-hysterical squeak.

"Owww…." Link groaned, clutching his side. While the potion had taken care of his superficial injuries, the deeper ones still remained enough to hurt, especially when punched. "I couldn't help it. Do you think I liked getting chased nearly all the way from Kakariko by Cuccos again?" he quickly and defensively exclaimed, met with an exasperated sigh from the farm girl.

"I swear..." Shaking her head, Malon quickly tugged on Link's sleeve, essentially dragging him over toward the house. "We'll get dad to fix you up before we head out. You don't want to get TWO girls angry today for being late, do you?"

* * *

**Meanwhile, at Hyrule Castle...**

POOF! The familiar flash and smoke of a Deku Nut burst filled the far corners of the castle garden, acrid smoke wafting through the air toward the windows peeking out from the corridors of the castle. With a quick stealthy dash, a white, blue, and blonde blur whisked between hedges, moving almost faster than the eye can see, and definitely faster than anyone who wasn't actively looking for such a blur could catch. Yet, it wasn't fast enough, it seemed, as a long, thin shuriken hit the ground right in front of the blur and forced it to slow down, reforming and congealing until it became a heaving form in blue and white, interrupted only by the red outline of the seal on its chest, piercing eyes, and the sweat-matted blonde hair peeking from the turban-like hat on it's head. As the mysterious figure slumped to the ground near one of the massive hedges in the garden, another figure, dominated by purples of her own body suit, tapped down next to the strange being, it's arm quickly flashing out and tapping the blue, white, and blonde person..

"You're getting better, Princess. It took me over 3 minutes to catch you that time." The strong face, invoking the visage of Amazons, slowly softened into a sturdy, yet affectionate smile. The blue-and-white figure slowly heaved, gloved hands pulling down the mask covering its face to reveal an androgynous face, red eyes piercing as it looked back to the vaguely feminine figure known as Impa.

"It's still not enough, though," a tenored voice replied, sounding very much like a girl trying her best to sound like a man. Indeed, for that's what it was, considering this was none other than the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda.. "And please, Impa, call me Sheik when I'm...oh, forget it." She'd chided her caretaker several times over this since asking her to train her in the ways of the Sheikah, all to no avail. Not that it was of importance now compared to when Ganondorf had taken over. Still...contingencies can be planned for, can't they? Sighing as she stood up, the princess closed her eyes, clasping her hands together, right hand wrapped around the first two fingers of her left. Then, with a puff of smoke and the sound of tearing cloth, the lithe figure was replaced by a young woman, long blond hair flowing behind her as her royal pink dress billowed about her. Grimacing, she pulled something from her dress, extracting a long, torn white tape, frowning as she balled up the ripped piece of cloth. "I still wish I didn't have to use these."

"Until you perfect the disguise magicks," Impa said. After all...gender is a hard thing to disguise by pure magic alone. "And shouldn't you be worried more about what time it is?" she asked, pointing through one of the windows toward a large clock in the castle halls.

"...NAYRU'S WISDOM, I'm late!" Rushing up to Impa, she spread her arms out as if to hug her...before stopping cold just before the remaining Sheikah. "I keep forgetting..." she said sheepishly, before giving Impa a stiff bow. Then, with a lift of her skirt and a kick up of dust, she rushed to the doors back into the castle.

As she watched Zelda depart into the castle, Impa started to fade. "It's good to know she's growing still," she whispered before she disappeared completely, her shadow dissolving. Even if her task as the Sage of Shadow was useful like this, it wouldn't do for all of her energy to be focused on watching over the princess like this.

* * *

Just outside of Hyrule Town, Link and Malon waited, the green-clad boy gently stabbing the ground with a deku stick as he sat on a rather large rock while the redhead rocked back and forth irritably, partly from impatience, and partly from her irritation with Link still. "She's late," Malon said flatly, stating the obvious.

"She'll be here soon. She's not this late usually," Link responded casually, his stick moving from the slow growing hole in the ground he had been prodding open to a nearby bush. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a flash of what might have been a lost rupee or two.

"You mean unlike some others?" It wasn't like Malon to be this snappy, but she couldn't help it for some reason. Just waiting here for another girl, and for so long just made her even more irritable. At least Link had the good sense not to ask if it was 'that time'. "Are we going to wait here all day or...

"She'll be here," he quickly insisted, not even bothering to look back to Malon as he snuck into the bush he had been jostling, still swearing he saw a rupee in there. She would have just about smacked him if not for a voice calling out to hem from afar.

"Sorry, you two!" A young blonde girl, around their age, dressed in rather common clothes (a rather dull tunic and slacks, with a burlap messenger's cap topping the almost boyish look) came running toward the two from the north, waving after them. Once she reached them, she slumped over, seemingly out of breath. "I'm sorry, I had so many errands to run, and my father wouldn't let me go until I finished them," she apologized with a blush of her cheeks. In her head, the young princess simply blessed her stars (and Nayru too) that her Sheikah training involved a good bit of acting too. After all, how could someone as well known as her be able to go anywhere if everyone knew she was Zelda?

"Z...Zana!" Link shouted, almost stumbling and calling the princess by her real name...something he nearly did too often.

"It's about time," Malon said irritably, looking up at the sky. It was already well into the afternoon. If they wanted to do anything, they'd have to hurry before the guards pulled up the drawbridge to town.

Zelda, or rather Zana, frowned at the rather annoyed Malon, leaning aside to the bush Link was crawling in and whispering to him. "Is something wrong with her?" she asks, her brow furrowed in worry beneath her cap.

"I don't know...she's been like this since I met her at the ranch today," the boy whispered back before clearing his throat and standing up, one rupee richer. "So, into town then?" he asks, putting on as big of a smile he could muster. Malon still looked angry, but didn't argue it. She simply made her way toward the drawbridge, her hair and dress both swept by the gentle breeze as she walked on. As she walked off, Link and Zelda sighed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have..." Zelda said, sighing and flipping her ponytail awkwardly.

"No...it's alright. I just hope she likes the surprise later," the green clad boy said, adjusting his cap before he started after Malon. "C'mon, we shouldn't keep her waiting."

* * *

**In the Light Temple...**

To say that Rauru was bored would be to sorely underestimate the sage's patience. Being perhaps the oldest sage both in appearance and true age, the Sage of Light was not easily flustered by the passage of time. But even he had to admit that the past 5 years were very much like watching a pot of water over a dying fire in case it boiled over. It's not as if the Temple's spartan design allowed for much, either. It was only the sterile environment the power of light allowed him, as well as the strange nature of time inside the Temple that kept him from worrying about even bothering with changing robes. Not that the Sage had much but the ornate orange robes he's always had.

The temple, as old as it was, didn't even really require much maitainence either. Aside from a bed, a table, and a few other sparse necessities, the temple was pure, untainted crystal, requiring little more than a polish or so ever year. The old man didn't even need food. As with the rest of the sages, they were in many ways static, kept in their states from the time they accepted their duty as sages.

Sure, he could go out as his powers let him, albeit never for long. As one of the more dutiful sages however, he was usually the one that observed and made sure the seals of the sages, as well as the rest of those functions each sage was meant to serve, were uninterrupted and untouched. Between Impa's diverted energies for her shadow training of the Princess, Darunia's constant excursions for tasty rocks (no matter how many times Rauru reminded him that eating was unnecessary), Saria's frequent visits to the Kokiri and the Great Deku Sapling, Ruto's daydreaming and fawning over the Hero of Time, and Nabooru's distant guidance of the remaining Gerudo in Ganon's absence, he often was the only one fully committed to keeping all the magicks involved safe and working.

As it is, he was probably the only one to see that there was a problem. One which vexed and confused him. One which seems to have been brewing right underneath the surface and festering like a sore without even so much as a notice by him or any of the other sages.

A problem which forced Rauru to scowl deeper than his sagely mustache could hide. "I have to tell the others," he vowed, hand upon the crystalline walls of the temple, the formerly clear structure turning a dull, translucent grey.

* * *

"Do you think she knows?"

"Are you kidding? Poor thing hasn't got a clue."

"She better not. We've been planning this for weeks now. Have you got it?"

"...got what?"

"IT! IT, man!"

"...OH, right, I got it. She'll never know what hit her once we pull this out. We..."

CreeeaaaaAAAAAK! "Excuuuuuuuse me...you wouldn't have seen a little dog around here with a mask in its mouth, would you?"

Staring at the open doorway, sunlight illuminating the formerly dark shop, Bazaar and Talon simply stared at the strange, ever-smiling mask salesman, his creepy expression and ever bowing form lurching toward both of the larger men, somehow making himself more imposing than either of the two could ever hope to be. "...N-n-no. Now get out, we're planning something!" Bazaar spat out, thick lips sputtering as he tried to shoo the Mask Salesman away.

"Oh, I suppose I'll see in another part of town then. Good day, gentlemen!" Turning around, pack bobbing up and down his back as he walked off, the salesman disappeared down an alleyway, his departure proceeded by two long, relieved sighs.

"That man still creeps the hell out of me," Talon said, shaking his head as he slowly put up a set of decorations over Bazaar's countertop.

"Yeah...you'd think he'd know better than to interrupt a man when he's busy too," the shopkeep said with a shudder, returning to his painting, a brush in hand as he finished the last stroke of a letter, his banner reading "HAPP" in bold black lettering so far.

* * *

The news from Rauru traveled quickly. There were perks to being the Sage of Light, after all. The reactions all varied. Saria responded with wide-eyed shock. Darunia simply narrowed his eyes in mid-crunch, teeth grinding into the rock he had been snacking on. Ruto whined and complained a little, before she regained her composure. Impa sighed resignedly. Nabooru's brow knitted her hand tightening around the scimitar she had been training with. But the sentiments all remained the same.

They were in some deep, deep trouble.

All of the six Sages gathered, the Temple of Light more packed than it had ever been since Rauru could remember.

"So what does this all mean?" Ruto asked, her voice bubbling a little as she spoke, as was common for a Zora.

"What do you think it means?" Darunia gruffly replied, arms crossed over his expansive chest, beady eyes narrowed and wide mouth scowling. Even his beard seemed to bristle.

"Something must be wrong with the seal," Saria said fretfully, the small Kokiri knitting her fingers together as she looked at the darkening crystal walls of the temple, her fearful face turned away from the others as she stared.

"What kind of problem?" Nabooru asked, straight to the point, her hands hanging at her sides, fiery eyes glancing back and forth to the others.

"Calm down." Rauru was quick to try and ease the tension and worries of the other sages, but his aged face wrinkled even more as he sighed. There was no way to sugarcoat the issue. He knew it, and the others knew it. This was far and beyond serious. "Saria is right, the seal is wavering. It's been weakening...and from the looks of it, it's been weakening since Link was sent back in time."

"So it's Link's fault?" Saria said with a saddened, almost mournful look in her eye. No, he couldn't have been the reason this was happening, especially 5 years after the fact. She couldn't believe it.

"Of course it's not his fault," Ruto said, her fist closing with a squish and her fins expanding out, the Water sage ironically fiery in her defense of the Hero of Time.

"I think I know why." All eyes turned to Impa, her first words spoken since arriving. The white-haired, almost manly looking nursemaid slowly lifted her head up, eyes opening again for the first time since she's been here.

"Well?" Nabooru asked expectantly, her fingers grasping at her loose desert pants.

Kicking off the wall she had been leaning on, Impa slowly started around the room, pacing with a clack of her feet against solid crystal. "The seal was formed 5 years ago. As we were pulled to exist out of the flow of time by our duty as Sages we were not affected by the sudden shift of events as Zelda granted Link a chance to regain his childhood and return to his 10 year old self." Flashes of recognition flash across Nabooru's and Ruto's eyes.

"I see..." Ruto said, her fins deflating a bit as she grasps the situation. "Aside from us six, everything shifted back 7 years, including..."

"The keystone," Nabooru finished, moving further into the center with light footsteps, toe pushing at the mattress of the spartan bed, the one on which Link himself was confined to for 7 years. "Zelda."

Saria's eyes widen as the problem hit her too, spinning around on her heels to look at the others. Darunia, however, remained stonily deaf to the problem. "And that means..."

"The seal's weakening because she's not the same Zelda that made the seal," Saria said quietly, eyes widening with each second of realization that passes.

"...Wait, I get it now, I...wait, no I don't," Darunia said, the epiphany just escaping the Goron as he gruffly snorted in frustration, head downturned as he thought it over again.

"When Ganon was sealed away, and Link was given his second chance," Rauru explains, his hands tracing along the walls of the temple. "He changed the events that were to culminate 7 years later. The world was not in the mortal peril it was under Ganondorf. The whole kingdom was taken on a different course. Its people were taken down a widely different path. Even Zelda, the Seventh Sage, upon whom the burden of the spell containing Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm stands." His hands stopped at a particularly murky part of the crystal, frowning at the tumor-like darkness welling inside of it, pulsing and expanding.

"But wait," Ruto said, furrowing her brow, causing her headfin to fold up a little. "Even with that, Zelda kept her memories, along with Link. She still knows about the seal. Shouldn't she be..."

"The princess was only as magically gifted as she was due to necessity," Impa quickly interrupted. "She was forced to adapt quickly and foster her abilities because she and I both knew that if we didn't, Ganon would have become even more powerful than he already was. Without that life-or-death pressure upon her, her skills and magic haven't grown as fast. The strength of the seal has suffered because her constitution is not as formidable...being able to live without worry has sadly worked against her." The princess' caretaker showed a rare glimpse of emotion at that, her brow knitting as her eyes looked sadly at her hands.

"So...wait, that means Ganon's going to get free now?" Darunia asks, stomping on the ground with enough force to shake what few fixtures there were in the temple, including the bed Nabooru had rested her foot on. "I'm not going to let that happen! I'll sit on his chest as soon as he gets out and..." His tirade was quickly shushed by Saria, however, the forest Sage placing a finger to her lips to quiet him, before humming her tune...just loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough to send him into his usual dancing frenzy. It was enough to calm him and distract him, his foot tapping to the song.

"I'm afraid it's worse than that..." Rauru said, pointing at the threads and globs darkening the crystals of the temple. "The combination of the weakened seal, as well as Ganon's continued claim on the Triforce of Power has created some...unseen events. These crystals are not just decorations or walls for this temple. They are eyes into the world. That it has become so murky now tells me there is a problem. Even when Ganon rose to power, the crystals remained clear. But now...even the power of Light cannot pierce through this."

All eyes silently turned to Rauru, none needing to voice their shared question. "...this can only mean one thing," the sage said, his wide form turning to each and every one of them. "The walls and barriers of our whole world, not just that containing Ganon, are collapsing."

* * *

**Back in Hyrule Castle Town...**

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY LEFT ME!" Malon shouted, a few wary eyes turning toward the fiery redhead and her sudden outbursts. Fingers curled into tight little fists, her long hair bristling as her anger started to take over her.

_"We'll meet you back at Bazaar's!" Link shouted as the fairy boy and "Zana" ran off, waving at her as they ran toward the back streets of town. No doubt for some funny business_.

"Hrmph...today of all days too..." Malon muttered to herself as she plopped down onto the edge of the fountain in the center of town. Trying to calm herself down, she whistled to herself, singing back the tune her mother had always sung to her as she thought of calming thoughts. Riding Epona along the farm. Dinner with Talon. Talon sleeping his day away after a delivery of Lon Lon Milk. Link and Zana holding hands as the walked along...Link and Zana in a corner alone as they...

"GAAH!" Finding her anger only growing, the farm girl slapped her hands down into the water of the fountain, sending a spray over the edge and nearly drenching a visiting family.

"Mommy, Daddy, why is she splashing water like that? You told me the fountain wasn't to play in!"

"I think the girl is just having her 'special time' again, son."

"And I think daddy's going to be sleeping on the roof again, aren't you, DADDY!"

"...yes'm dear."

* * *

Once Link and Zelda made their way to the door to Bazaar's, Malon was nowhere to be found.

"Where is she?" Link asked, looking up into the sky. "It's already almost dusk...she should have been here by now!"

"Maybe we should go look for her?" Zelda asked, her more common tone of voice dropped, not having to worry too much about being made with only Link around at the moment."

Link nodded to Zelda, quickly running off toward the center of town again, though he casted a quick look back to the princess as he made his way. "Go inside and make sure everything's ready! I'll be back as soon as I can."

As the sun slowly made its way toward the horizon, Link ran through town, huffing a bit as he sprinted to the center court. As he arrived, he spotted the girl in question, her face downcast, fiery locks hanging over the sides of her face. She remained unmoving even as the green-clad boy approached. "Malon? Malon? Why weren't you at Bazaar's? I thought you were going to..."

"Link...do you even know what today is?" Malon asked, her voice on the verge of breaking, her gaze still tilted toward the ground.

"...wh-wha?"

"Today...did you even know what today is?" Suddenly, Malon whipped her head up, hair thrown back as she looked dead into Link's eyes, blue eyes welling with tears as her mouth was drawn back in an angry expression. "Today was my BIRTHDAY! MY BIRTHDAY, LINK!"

"Malon, I..." Link started. However, whatever explanation he tried to give was cut off by a thunderous slap across his face, one that nearly leveled the former Hero of time, the blonde boy clasping at his cheek with a stunned expression as he looked up at Malon from his place on the cobbled ground.

"NO! No excuses! How could you forget what today was! After coming to visit me for so long, after all the times I loaned you Epona, after..." Malon's angry expression slowly morphed into a progressively hurt one, tears pouring down her cheeks like faucets as she rubbed the back of her hand under her nose. "After all this time. Rather than even wish me one small "Happy Birthday", you instead run off with some other girl, some girl who you didn't even ask me about. You just started bringing her along with us and...and..." Unable to take it anymore, Malon collapsed to her knees, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed.

Link stared, wide-eyed at Malon as she broke down in front of him, too stunned to react. Once he managed to shake off his daze, he slowly crawled toward the farm girl, reaching out to her in hopes of pulling aside one of her hands, wanting to speak directly into her face. However, Malon broke from him, smacking his hand away from her before running off, bawling as she raced away from him.

* * *

"...is it time yet?"

"No, Link. Wait for Link to get here."

"...wait, what? I thought I wa..."

"The other Link!" "Green Link!" "The one that doesn't eat rocks!"

"...oh, ok. Geez, it's dark."

"Where's that durn boy? He should be here by now."

"SHHH! The doors opening! Take your places!"

Light pierced the dark room as the door cracked open, letting in the fading sunlight. As soon as the door was completely swung open, a multitude of people leapt out of every corner, every nook, and every shadow in Bazaar's shop, wide-eyed and ready to shout something at the top of their lungs. However, whatever shout they had built up caught in their throats as only one person stood in the doorway. Lowering her hands, "Zana" walked out from behind the bar, an intent look on her face. "Link? Where's Malon?"

"Yeah, where's my daughter, boy? I thought you were bringing her back?" The wide, bushy-mustachioed farmer Talon gave a stern look to the green-clad boy as Link slumped against the doorframe, a banner held limp in his large, calloused hands.

"Talon..." Link slowly started in a numb sort of voice. "Did you say anything to Malon about her birthday before you left the farm today?" This took the farmer aback, releasing the banner in one hand, the long, painted piece of cloth stating in bold black letters "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MALON!"

"Wha? No, 'course not. I was waiting for the party we all planned!"

"Where is she, brother Link?" asked the small Goron in the corner near the pots, the rocky youth also known as Link looking quite confused at the turn of events.

"I didn't neither," Bazaar said, big lips downturned into a thoughtful frown. "Did anyone?"

This drew a shook of heads, from "Zara" to the Bombchu Game Girl, even to the old man who drew Talon's carts and helped him deliver to town. "Link...did she..." "Zara" started, her fears confirmed by a slow nod from the hero's head. "Oh no..."

"Poor girl must think we all forgot!" Talon said, pushing aside the large mug of ale he had prepared for himself in waiting as he lumbered toward the door, only to be stopped by a pair of twin hands.

"We'll look for her. Just...keep things ready in case we can convince her to come back," Link said, a hurt look in his eyes as he started walking off. "Zara" echoed the look as she looked back toward Malon's father, slowly following him.

"...well, shoot, what're we gonna do with all these streamers now?" Bazaar asked, multicolored strings of paper hanging from massive fists as he raised them up into the air.

* * *

Malon wept as she hid in the bushes in front of the Temple of Time, all her anger from before giving way to total depression. "How could everyone have forgotten? Link especially!" she bawled to herself. As forlorn as she was, she didn't even flinch at the buzz and thrum from the nearby gossip stone, the oddly marked sculpture announcing the passing of each minute in its own unique way. However, another sound did manage to cut her tears short: voices.

"...alon?" "maloOON!" It was them. The source of most of her anger and sadness. Not wanting to face them after the pain they subjected her to, the farm girl quickly sprinted off again, this time barreling through the doors to the temple. Just in time for Link and Zelda to reach the outer hedges.

"Where could she have gone? This is the last place we haven't looked at," Link sighed, flopping down to lean against the Gossip Stone, twitching as it announced yet another minute past.

"She obviously doesn't want to be found," Zelda said, sighing as she pulled her hair free of her ponytail, her burlap cap snatched off her head as she shook her head out, abandoning her disguise if only for the moment.

"I've never seen her cry. Never...not even when Ingo was slave driving her," Link said, forehead held in the palm of his hand, nearly knocking the flopping forest cap off his own blonde head. "...and the worst part is that she thinks we were gone because we were..." He stops short, his cheeks reddening at the thought. While unspoken, Zelda caught the implication, her own cheeks brightening as well.

"I'm sure she'll understand after we explain it to her," Zelda insisted, her head turning away from Link to the hedge beside her, staring at the small aphids working at the leaves.

"I hope so," Link said, standing up again...

* * *

As the two chosen of the Triforce planned and lamented, the sages had their own problems, one coming in the form of sudden tremors shaking the whole Temple of Light.

"What's going on!" Nabooru shouted, her hand coming straight to the handle of her scimitar on instinct.

"It's starting," Impa said plainly, walking up to one side of the temple and pulling Darunia's arm aside as the Sage of Fire errantly tried to stop the tremors by pushing his massive arms against the walls.

"We need to contact Zelda and Link!" Saria quickly chimed in, the small girl whipping his head around worriedly as things continued to shake. The murkiness in the walls continued to spread, darkening to near blackness.

"I'll go!" Ruto quickly insisted, her chest puffing out proudly as she prepared to teleport herself out of the temple, eyes closed. However, after an awkward 15 seconds, her eyes flashed open again, a tremble to her voice as she proclaimed, "I can't! The magic's not working!" The sages quickly exchanged glances, each save Rauru exchanging glances as they attempted to leave, only to come to the same terrible conclusion: they were stuck.

"So it begins," Rauru sighs, his head drooping as he stood in the center, watching the light of the temple fade as the darkness consumed it.

* * *

The Temple of Time was always an enigma. Few still alive remembered its initial purpose, and even they dismissed most of it as nonsense. Aside from the altar within and the vaguely cathedral-like construction of the building, what the building was for seemed to escape most people. However, those that did visit could easily sense there was something powerful...almost spiritual about the Temple.

Malon was no different. Despite her earlier hysterics, she managed to stifle off her tears, if only out of reverence for the Temple. Still sniffling a bit, she slowly walked forward, her footfalls echoing throughout the Temple despite her best attempts to tread lightly. There was a silent awe about the place, despite how seemingly empty it was. And the girl couldn't help but be drawn to the altar near the short stairsteps at the back, the altar glowing with green, red, and blue light. The three colors associated with the goddesses themselves. As she closed in on it, she could make out the sources of the glowing, the three stones embedded in the pedestal: the green stone like a fruit in a branch's embrace, the red like crystallized candlelight, and the blue like drops of water on a flower. As her hands traced over each, she whispered the names of the goddesses, as well as their attributes. "...Farore's courage...Din's Power...Nayru's Wisdom..."

Once she reached the end of the altar, she slowly stepped back in front of it, kneeling down right at the center and clasping her hands together. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head, a silent prayer to the goddess offered.

To her surprise, she received an answer...but hardly any that would have granted her wishes. Without warning, the temple began to shake, the sound of grinding marble and stone breaking the sacred silence. "What's going on!" Malon shouted, her voice echoing along with the shuddering of the walls. Panicked, she slowly tried to retreat out of the temple backwards, her path thwarted by the carpet beneath her feet as she slipped on it.

As the temple continued to shake, the doors flung open, two voices shouting in unison as they watched Malon collapse, nursing at her leg. "MALON!" "MALON!" While Link and Zelda had heard and felt the shaking coming from the Temple, they had no idea they'd find Malon here as well. "Are you ok!" Link asked.

"Oww...my ankle..." Malon whined, her earlier anger at the two vanishing under more pressing circumstances. "What's going on!"

"I don't know!" Link shouted, frustrated, looking to his side to see if Zelda had any idea. However, he would get no answer from her, as the Princess collapsed herself, clutching at her head, her face twisted in pain. "AAGHHHHHH!"

* * *

The rest of the sages fared little better, though their reaction to the sudden magical backlash was varied. Saria reacted much like Zelda did, dropping to her knees and cradling her head. Darunia curled up into a ball, his rocky back pulsing a dull red. Ruto's fins fluttered as her mouth opened and closed, hand grasping at her throat as if the air had been taken from her lungs and gills. Nabooru, pounded on the blackened crystal walls of the temple, eyes squeezed shut and teeth drawn back in a painful grimace.

The only two that seemed to take it in stride were Rauru and Impa. For the Sheikah, it was only her spiritual training that allowed her to remain focused, even as a pained look or two raced across her face. Rauru, however, remained stoic, his face stony as he looked up, the last of the light fading in the temple. "The seal is breaking. All that magic poured into it is being thrown back against us." Then, all six voices chorused together, despite the pain each was experiencing.

"The King of Evil lives again."

* * *

As Link tended to the writhing Zelda, the princess pitching about on a sea of red carpet and blonde hair, Malon was left to watch the temple nearly threaten t collapse upon them. Then, a distinctly different rumbling started, the wall behind the altar sliding up with the sound of grating stone. "LOOK!"

And from behind the dais...a familiar, ominous figure stood, red eyes piercing through the shadows as the wall kept rising. A dark chuckle echoed as the tremors began to weaken around the temple.

"The King of Evil lives again..." Zelda managed to choke out, eyes staring blankly into the ceiling as she tried to cope with the sudden shattering of the seal.

"Indeed..." Ganondorf intoned darkly, large boots clomping on the pristine floor of the Temple, one hand tightened into a large fist, his black armor seemingly drawing in the light around him, the dark aura overwhelming. "After 5 long years of being imprisoned, I return. It seems your little spell wasn't enough to keep me prisoner," the Gerudo thief taunted.

Link would have none of it though. Leaving Zelda's side, he drew the plain steel sword, the one he had grown accustomed to when the Kokiri's Sword grew too small for him. With a guttural battle cry, he charged at Ganondorf, blade held ready to slash at him. "HRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"Link, NO!" Malon shouted, horrified as she watched him charge at the massive, evil man. She did her best to crawl toward him in hopes of stopping what seemed like a suicidal run, but her legs refused to move for her, her muscles limp like string cheese from fear.

Ganondorf's only response was a mad cackle. "COME, Hero of time! Run toward your doom! Your sages are helpless, the princess is useless, and the one weapon you could hope to use against me is RIGHT BEHIND ME!" As the green clad boy neared, the Gerudo thrusted out a massive hand, a burst of magic flashing out toward the charging Link...

...only to fly through the space he had been occupying and blast a hole through he front wall of the Temple. For as Ganon readied the magical blast, Link was already low, rolling past Ganon in attempt to get to the key to defeating him: the Master Sword. The black-clad warlock only had moments to realize he had missed before turning around, spotting his dreaded nemesis already at the pedestal of the Master Sword.

It was at that time that Zelda finally started to regain her senses, her hand coming to the side of her head as she shook loose her daze. As her sight refocused, she saw Ganondorf, his back turned to her as his muscles tensed in preparation. She saw Malon, a horrified look on the girl's face as she watched helplessly, confused and afraid and not even sure who the man who instilled such fear in her was. And she saw Link, his hands grasped tightly around the hilt of the Blade of Evil's Bane...and her gut tightened, a horrid pang of realization hitting her before she yelled to him. "NO, LINK! DON'T DRAW THE..."

But it was too late.

A sound of drawn steel later, and it was over. As soon as the Master Sword was yanked from the pedestal, a flash of light engulfed the room, everyone within the temple disappearing in the blinding brilliance. For those gathered, it felt as if Din herself were pulling them in toward the pedestal by their intestines. That was the only way to describe the total wrenching feeling they felt as the world disappeared around them, Link feeling the worst of it, being right upon the pedestal itself.

The last sound he heard as he lost consciousness was the echoes of two terrified female voices crying his name. "LIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiinnnnkkk...!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Whew...that was a long chapter. And I had originally planned more in here before I realized how hefty it was going to be. This after a near scare with the floppy I had stored this on (along with several other stories, including the 3rd chapter of my Street Fighter Fic) suffering a bit of a meltdown.

For a quick note, this story takes a bit of a divergence, in that the events of Majora's Mask never came to be, as well as making the assumption that the events of Wind Waker do not result in this world. Any other mistakes and omissions I might have made as far as in-game things are purely unintentional.

In any case...what's going to be in store for Link and co.? Is this the end for our Hero?...of course not! But the question is, what happened to them? Where did they go? Why have the Sages been locked down in the Temple of Light like they were?

All those answers are going to be answered in the next chapter: Through The Looking Glass. It's gonna be a trip! And of course, C&Cs are encouraged and welcomed!

- **_Kryptik_**


End file.
